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Calverton farm owner’s fence has been cut three times, allowing horses to escape

The owner of a Calverton farm says vandals have cut the fences on her farm three times in the past month and let her horses escape.
Seven of the horses found their way onto the Long Island Expressway Tuesday, and one of them was badly hurt when it tried to jump a guardrail.
“His whole side was cut. It went through two layers of skin,” said Marie Tooker, who owns Abbess Farm on Route 25 in Calverton.
“This is the third incident,” she said. “Someone went way back about 35 acres and cut the wire fence and let the horses out.”
Ms. Tooker said someone also cut the fence on June 14 and allowed her horses to escape. They ended up on the Calverton Links golf course.
The fences were cut one prior time, she said, and her horses turned up on Route 25 in Calverton at about 4 a.m. No horses were injured in the first two incidents, she said.
Ms. Tooker doesn’t know who is doing it, but she’s convinced it’s being done on purpose.
“Horses are herding animals. They won’t leave the property by themselves if the fence is cut. Somebody has to lead them,” she said.
She said she’s never had horses get loose from her Calverton farm in eight years prior to this, and in the 30 years prior she has owned horses.
Ms. Tooker said she’s had disputes in the past with hunters who shot too close to her property, and had even witnessed one cutting her fence a few years ago.
“This is a horror show,” she said. “Someone is going to get badly hurt.”
Ms. Tooker said she was issued summonses for the horses escaping.

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